4CLAC – 4th Latin American Cluster Conference, Mendoza 2009
In an atmosphere of close friendship and intensive learning, over 200 cluster practitioners from all over Latin America met in Mendoza for a week-long exchange of experiences and best practices during 16-20 November 2009 in Mendoza, Argentina. Presentations of the conference on "Clusters, lessons learned and challenges in Latin America" are already available for TCI members, only after log in. See all the Presentations Mendoza 4CLAC
The setting could not have been better. Mendoza, a northwestern province of Argentina, is a dynamic region that not only produces 70% of Argentina’s wine, with its worldwide-known emblematic Malbec; it also has a thriving adventure tourism cluster, a growing agro-industrial sector and companies of international scope that have successfully diversified from supplying the local petroleum industry. A not so well known feature of the city of Mendoza is its unique network of water channels that, running on both sides of every street in the downtown area, has served for over 150 years to irrigate a profusion of tall trees that provide extensive shades and help mitigate the desert-like conditions of the region. It is managed with ecological practices that extend to activities in the rural areas. Mendoza is thus a leading example of a community ready to fight climate change.
The 4CLAC started on Tuesday with well-organized cluster tours involving the main economic activities of Mendoza: wine, adventure tourism, agroindustrial and metalmechanics. Participation was high and the groups reported that their expectations were exceeded.
In the main program of Wednesday and Thursday, presentations were grouped along four themes: Meeting the Competitive Challenges of Latin America, Clusters and Innovation Systems, Lessons Learned and Natural Resources Clusters. There were outstanding participants. Of particular interest was the presentation of the Mendoza Wine Cluster, whose strategic plan has led to a recent boom in exports and a world-recognized position as a leading wine region.
Evening activities were a perfect match for the intensive work during the day. A warm welcoming reception on Tuesday, where we met lots of friends from previous events, was followed by consecutive wine and food galas hosted by two leading wineries: Zuccardi and Septima. We were already dedicated fans of Mendoza wines before our stay there, but afterwords, the combination of wine, food, setting and ambiance has turned us into lifelong believers.
Friday, along with an interesting IADB (Inter-American Development Bank) seminar on cluster evaluation and the closing remarks, brought two important announcements. One was an invitation to our next Latin American Cluster Conference, the fifth (5CLAC), which will take place in another leading region, Medellin-Colombia, in June 2010. The second, was the official launch of RedLAC, the Latin American Cluster Network, which will act as the Latin American Chapter of TCI.
RedLAC will help in bridging the spaces between meetings, providing at the same time with a learning network that has already attracted great interest of individuals and institutions. It consists of five mechanisms offering space for registration of interested practitioners (group RedLAC in www.linkedin.com), a continuous dialogue (blog at www.clusterizando.com), a knowledge bank (www.clusters.la), links with regional and global institutions, and the support of regional meetings and exchanges among cluster processes and companies. For more information please visit www.clusterizando.com.
We left Mendoza with the durable imprint of an excellent event, balanced with human and intellectual experiences. We now look forward to Medellin with just as high expectations. Keep tuned at www.medellinciudadcluster.com. You can see also this and other information and photos at the 4CLAC website www.clusterslatinoamerica2009.com.
